Overview

• Ministerpräsident Alexander Schweitzer led an expert discussion in the Staatskanzlei in Mainz to clarify the state’s place in a shifting transatlantic order before political talks in the US.
• He confirmed plans to travel to Washington with several cabinet members for meetings on Capitol Hill, at the Pentagon, with think tanks, and with representatives from culture and research.
• He warned that tariffs are causing significant uncertainty for Rheinland-Pfalz, which counts the United States as its second-most important trading partner after France.
• He highlighted the state’s role as a NATO hub with major US facilities at Ramstein and Baumholder, saying the US military is consolidating its presence and expanding technical and medical capabilities, including the Weilerbach hospital project.
• Participants included Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and David Sirakov of the Atlantische Akademie Rheinland-Pfalz.